BTW, as to the cultures who use rice as a staple, the rice was not white rice until recently. It would have been brown rice with high-fiber layer intact. Also, traditional rice farming provides habitat for all sorts of aquatic protein life such as small fish, crabs, crayfish etc. When the rice paddies are modified to accomodate tractor-based farming, rice yeilds go way up but the protein content of the diet goes DOWN. It's not a particularly good trade-off for the people concerned. (Sorry Peace Corps. ) Reliance on rice for the bulk of the diet is likely a fairly recent development similar to the agrarian reliance on grains. Also, while the plates in Asian restaurants may not contain many vegetables, they are adapted to suit Wester tastes. The vegetable content is quite a bit higher when the food is served in the country of origin.

Cheers,

Friday